


Home for Christmas

by daughter_of_terror



Category: Actor RPF, Lee Pace - Fandom, Richard Armitage - Fandom, Richlee - Fandom
Genre: 'Tis the season - to be angsty, Angst with a Happy Ending, Animal Death, Christmas, M/M, death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-11 12:58:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12935790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daughter_of_terror/pseuds/daughter_of_terror
Summary: It's Christmas Eve and Richard and Lee need to have the most serious of talks. Then an unexpected event puts a damper on the already subdued atmosphere.





	Home for Christmas

The snow was coming down in thick flurries and had already piled up all over the vast countryside. All outlook was for a white christmas this year, but Richar wasn’t allowing himself to dream of anything at the moment. The roads leading up to his destination were icy as glass so he had to concentrate hard on driving and not slip and crash his rental. He was also valiantly fighting the lump that had been forming in his throat for the past two days and was now dangerously close to bursting. He considered stoppong the car to let everything out before he reached the farm, thinking that maybe that might make everything easier when the time eventually came, but he was now just a few minutes away anyway, so it would hardly be worth it. He would just have to suck it up and take whatever would happen with his usual stoic calmness. After that, he could go back to his flat and celebrate the holidays alone with copious amounts of alcohol. 

 

“Fuck!”, he thought, hitting the steering wheel hard with the heels of his hands. He just wished it would be over quickly. It would be a fitting end to this nightmare of a year. And it had started so well too. 

 

Last christmas, everything had been perfect. They’d both had most of January off and had spent it together in a long-awaited domestic bliss at the farm. 

 

Then the first blow happened, a week before Richard was supposed to go back to Berlin. Lee had received a call from his sister one evening, informing him that their dad had passed away. Heart attack, she’s told them. It had come as a huge shock to all of them and Lee had obviously been devastated; him and his dad had always been very close. Richard had spent the night just holding him and stroking his hair as he cried, and in the morning he’d called and delayed his arrival to Germany for a few days so he’d be able to attend the funeral. 

 

They’d said their somewhat sombre goodbyes at the airport a few days after the service. That moment should honestly have been a warning sign for Richard, now that he thought back on it. He remembered having had a bad feeling about their parting - it didn’t feel like they’d had before. He felt like neither of them was ready to be apart from the otherfor such a long period of time, but since it was just a feeling in his stomach at the time he’d said nothing about it and neither had Lee. 

 

Two days later he was back in Berlin, Lee was back in Atlanta for Halt, and Richard felt like their long-distance relationship had never before felt so distant.  

 

As the months passed, Richard started to wonder if he was being paranoid, or if Lee was really starting to avoid him. They still had their bi-weekly skype calls like before, but they were shorter lasting than usual and Lee had also become less chatty. He also stopped answering or reacting to Richard’s messages, and Richard noticed his smile rarely reached his eyes anymore. 

 

Despite all this, Richard tried to convince himself that this was all just a part of Lee’s grieving process, and that soon enough everything would be back to normal. 

 

The second blow had struck in late July, just a few days before Richard was to wrap up his filming in Berlin. Lee had called him sobbing and barely coherent one night, and told him that their dog Carl had died that evening. Of course, Carl had been elderly, even when Richard and Lee had first started dating five years ago, and he had become more and more frail during the last few months, so Richard had been expecting this to happen sooner or later. But even so, hearing Lee’s broken voice on the phone that night made Richard want to drop everything right there and then and jump on the next plane to New York to be with the love of his life in his time of need. 

 

But Lee had assured him that he would be fine, that he had some friends over that would keep him company, and that he would see him in a few days. 

 

The third, and perhaps the hardest blow for Richard came about a week after his return home, in the beginning of August. Lee had been even more unusually distant and quiet and all Richard’s attempts of any intimacy, or even just conversation had fallen flat. 

 

He had stayed home while Lee took Pete on a long walk in the fields, trying and failing to focus on something other than Lee’s weird moods. 

 

Lee had dropped the bomb when they came back inside. 

 

Richard had barely stopped thinking about Lee’s words in the months since; the tone, the volume, calm but heartbreaking: “I think we sould spend some time apart.”

He had claimed that he “needed some time to think.” 

 

Thinking back, Richard wished he’d insisted that they discuss everything right there and then. Get it all out of the way. If he had, then maybe things wouldn’t have ended the way they did. 

Then again, maybe it would’ve only pushed Lee further away. 

 

He thought it must’ve been a sign of just how much he loved Lee, that he decided it was best to give him all the space he needed to figure things out. 

 

And so, he had packed a bag that very evening and relocated himself to his flat in the city, proceeding to board himself up and wallow for the next two days, but keeping his phone with him at all times in case Lee should call. 

He didn’t. 

 

Eventually, however, he was forced to face the rest of the world again and had somehow managed to force himself to get through the next few months. He has interviews and press to do for Berlin Station of course, and he’s also taken on a couple of audio projects which required him to return back to England for a while.

It hade been nice to visit his parents and to see his brother and his nephew again. 

 

All the while, Lee had kept up the radio silence and Richard had to muster up every ounce of self-restraint he had not to check his messages every two seconds, and had often taken to leaving his phone at home when he went out - much to the frustration of his agent and others who tried to reach him during that period. 

 

That wasn’t to say that he didn’t get any news of what Lee was up to. Even though Richard hated to admit it, and was even somewhat ashamed of it, he had taken to ghosting Lee’s social media accounts for information during his lowest moments. 

During these moments he tended to get filled with bursts of jealousy at everyone Lee was hanging out with or working with at any given moment. He’d felt epecially jealous when he’s seen pictures from when Lee went to Paris for fashion week with a few of his model friends - then he’s just felt extremely shitty immediately afterwards, feeling like a complete stupid grumpy fuck. Of course Lee could hang out with whomever he wantedand he’d always been close with his friends.

 

The first communication since that fateful August day had been in mid-October when Richard had finally caved and texted Lee to congratulate him on his newly announced Broadway gig. Not honestly expecting any response, he’d been completely ecstatic when Lee had texted him back just a few minutes later with a heart emoji. Just the thought of this one single emoji had been enough to get Richard through the weeks that followed, thinking that maybe all hope for a reconciliation was not quite lost yet. 

 

However, November and December passed in a flurry of work, interviews and auditions, but no further communications from Lee, and soon Richard had reverted back to his quiet internal wallowing and trying not to dwell on their last face-to-face converstation. 

He had been quite taken aback therefore, when Lee’s name had popped up on his phone yesterday afternoon - so taken baback in fact, that it hadn’t registered with him for a good 20 seconds that this was a phone call. Lee was actually calling him!

 

Fumbling, and almost dropping his phone in the process, he finally managed to answer. 

 

“Hello! Hi! Lee?” His answer was met with a short hesitating silence, during which Richard became worried that Lee had already hung up. 

Then, “Hi, Rich.”

Richard screwed up his eyes and let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. God, how he’d missed the sound of this voice!

pulling himself together, trying to discern weather Lee’s tone sounded sad or… not sad, he said, “Hey, Lee. How’ve you been?

“Oh - erm… good. I’ve been good. Y’know, just been super busy with, like rehearsals and stuff.”

“Right, yeah, the play! Congratulations on that again, by the way! I - er… I actually got myself three tickets to it!” A short pause, in which Richard realized how that must sound. “I’m not trying to y’know… stalk you or anything, I swear! It was kinda just a late-night, spur-of-the-moment thing.” he added apologetically. 

“Oh… thanks!” Lee still sounded hesitant, but Richard could’ve sworn he heard the sliver of a smile in his voice then. 

“Yeah, no problem.”

A long pause. Richard hated this. They used to be able to talk for hours about anything and nothing.  _ What happened?! _ He thought desperately. 

Then Lee drew his breath on the othe end of the line and said, “Hey, erm… I - I was wondering if… if you maybe wanted to come over… tomorrow, maybe? I think we need to talk.”

Richard could hardly beleive what he was hearing.

“What, to the farm? Tomorrow? Christmas Eve?

“Of course, I understand if you already have plans!” said Lee hurriedly, “I just…” but Richard cut him off. 

“No! I mean… I don’t have any plans. I justhave a couple of errands to run before noon, but I’m completely free after that. When’s good for you?”

“Err… ‘round six-ish… maybe?”

“Sure! Absolutely, I’ll be there!”

“Right. Okay...erm….see you tomorrow, then.”

“Yeah.” There was so much else that Richard wanted to say to Lee right there and then, but he couldn’t find the words he needed. So he just ended with, “See you tomorrow.”

But Lee had already hung up.

***

Richard hadn’t slept a wink that night, but tossed and turned all night with excitement at finally getting to see the love of his life again after such along separation, but at the same time dreading the possible outcome of “The talk”.

***

At half past six, Richard pulled up in front of the house. The drive had taken longer than he had anticipated, what with the heavy traffic in the city and the icy country roads. He stepped out of the wam car and was met with the freezing cold of the still heavy snowfall. 

Looking at the familiar farmhouse, emotions and feelings of loss washed over him and once again he had to fight back the tightness that had started to well up in his throat. Walking up the pathway to the front door, he felt like a stranger, a mere visitor. He knew it was a stupid thought; this was, after all, still his home - most of his stuff was still there, some of his clothes still in the closets (he’d seen a few pictures of Lee wearing some of them, and it had made him happy), his books and albums still on the shelves, his Orcrist still in the umbrella stand in the foyer - although for how much longer, he couldn’t be sure. 

 

He still had his own keys of course, but under the circumstances he felt that knocking would be the polite thing to do - that is until he heard the loud barks of excitement from within which indicated that at least one person in there was happy to see him. 

 

As soon as the door opened, he was met with an embrace of twenty pounds of black fur and a wet snout to the face. 

Grinning wider than he had done in months at the sight of their dog, Richard pushed him off his face but squatted down do give him a long-awaited scratch behind his ears. 

“Heyy, buddy!” Richard cooed at the dog, giving him a vigorous scratch and letting him back at his face. “Hiii, yes I know, I missed you too!”

As Pete proceeded to sniff his jacket, as if to make sure if it was definitely him, Richard’s eyes fell upon the tall and lanky form of his ( _ soon-to-be-ex? _ ) boyfriend leaning against the wall. Lee looked fucking stunning as always, thought Richard, despite his hair being unkempt and in desperate need of a cut, and his unflattering baggy sweater, which Richard was sure had belonged to him originally, but which Lee had adopted as his, like so many other of his clothes. He was clean shaven, however, and his big greenish eyes were as puppy-like as ever under the familiar bushy eyebrows that Richard was sure had a mind of their own.

As their eyes met, a small shy smile appeared on Lee’s face, which in turn coaxed a smile from Richard. 

“Hey.” Richard tried not to break the eye contact, while Pete was now giving him a thorough bath behind his left ear. 

“Hey, yourself.” Lee grinned. Then, “Oi, Pete! Chill!”

Ever so obedient, Pete heeded his human’s words straight away, but planted himself down beside Richard and stared up at Lee as if to challenge him to separate the two of them again. 

“Good boy.” Lee made a gesture through the still open front door. “Go on. Go out and play!”

These were obviously the magic words that Pete wanted to hear, because he grinned his stupid happy grin and hit Richard repeatedly in the thigh with his tail-wagging, before dashing out to play in the snow. 

 

Feeling his leg starting to cramp up, Richard stood up just as Lee reached his hand behind him to close the door. 

And suddenly, they found themselves standing closer together than they had done in more than five months. Richard noticed Lee smelled faintly of cinnamon. Their eyes met again for the briefest of moments before Richard found himself being embraced tightly by two hundred pounds of Lee and quickly returned the gesture, letting one hand run slowly, through the softness of his messy hair. 

 

The hug lasted far longer than was normal, but it could’ve lasted forever for all Richard cared. 

“I’ve missed you, Rich.” Richard felt, rather than heard Lee whisper softly into the nape of his neck. 

“I missed you too.” He whispered into Lee’s chest. 

 

Too soo, Lee broke the embrace and, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, said, “Uhm… you wanna.... come in?”

 

Following Lee down the hallway, past the brightly lit sitting room and into the spacious and cozy kitchen, Richard noticed the smell of cinnamon growing ever stronger. 

“You’ve been baking?”

“Oh… yeah, gingerbread house and chocolate chip cookies.” Lee answered, over his shoulder.

“As per tradition, of course.” Said Richard, remembering that gingerbread houses were somewhat of a Pace family christmas tradition and that Lee’s mother made the best recipe Richard had ever tasted. 

The kitchen was brightly lit as well, with colourful christmas lights in the windows and almost every surface covered with baking trays and sheets full of cookies and building units. 

 

“Want some tea? I got this new christmas blend, I’ve been dying to try out.” Lee asked as he went over to the sink to fill up the kettle. The kettle that had been one of the first household items they’d bought together when Richard had moved in, insisting to a rather sceptic Lee that the colonial way of making tea in  the microwave was just outrageous and that before anything else, he desperately needed a kettle. Lee had converted pretty quickly once he’d realized  the genius, and more importantly, far superiour taste of it. 

“Sure. Thanks.” Richard sat down at the kitchen table and started nibbling on a still warm cookie as he intensely watched Lee bustle with the teamaking, trying to make make sense of his body language, to guess where the ever looming conversation was likely to lead. 

“Is your family coming over tomorrow?” Richard asked to break the silence as the kettle was doing its thing. 

“Oh… no, they’re all spending christmas at mum and dad’s…” Lee paused shortly as he realized his choice of words and shakingly put down the mug he was pouring boiling water into, in order to steady himself, then too a deep breath and kept going as if nothing had happened. “I, uhm… I couldn’t get away, so I’m skyping them tomorrow. I’m flying to Texas on the 29th and spenting New Years with them, though.”

“Well, that’s nice.” Richard hoped this had sounded somewhat cheery, and that his pang of dread at the thought that he might not get to spend New Years with Lee had not seeped through into his voice. 

“Yeah, I guess…” Lee’s voice trailed away in thought, and silence fell again. 

 

He brought the two large mugs of steaming hot tea over to the table, put one down in front of Richard, then sat down opposite him. Richard was still watching Lee closely, and to be able to avoid his gaze for a while longer, Lee stared fixatingly into his mug while stirring in some milk. 

Eventually, though, Lee couldn’t avoid eye contact any longer. He looked up with his big puppy eyes and Richard was suddenly taken aback by how much older he seemed. The difficult year he’d had had obviously taken its toll on him and Richard thought he looked more grown-up, more mature. 

When their eyes met, however, Lee couldn’t help but flashing a small half-smile, which Richard returned, thinking that at least his beautiful smile was something that had not changed in the slightest. 

“Sooo…” said Richard. 

“Yeah…” said Lee, taking a sip of his tea while trying to decide what to say next. 

They sat in silence for a few more moments in which Richard regarded Lee and the sadness that was clearly visible on his face. It was torture seeing him like this, Richard thought, and at thet moment he decided that he himself might as well be the first one to speak. This was a converstation that needed to happen and he needed to rip it off like a band-aid. He reached his hands across the table and cupped Lee’s, which were still clutching the mug as if for dear life. 

“Lee, hey, talk to me. Tell me what you’re thinking. Please.”

Lee didn’t answer. He continued to stare into his tea as if hoping it would have the answers to his problems; as if he was afraid of what might happen if he looked up and met Richard’s eyes. He let out a small sniffle, desperately trying to fight back his tears. 

Richard took a shaky breath, and continued. 

“Listen, I - I know this past year has been a nightmare for you, emotionally, and I get that you need to do whatever you feel is right for yourself to get through all that. So… if you feel like it would be best for you if we broke up… just say the words and - and I’ll pack up my stuff and get out of your hair tonight.” 

Lee had finally looked up at sound of the words “break up”, and was now looking at him with widened and tear-filled eyes, but Richard took another deep breath and continued. He needed to say this. 

“But, I just want you to know that I haven’t given up on us yet. I love you and no matter what you’ll say next I will always care about you. So, what I’m tryeing to say is… this is entirely up to you.”

He finished with a weak but hopeful smile and, heart thumping, waited anxiously for Lee’s response. 

Again, Lee didn’t answer right away. Instead he removed his hands from Richard’s grasp and proceeded to wipe some excess sweat off his palms on his pants, like he was trying to buy some time. He turned his head up to face the ceiling (exposing that lovely adam’s apple Richard was so familiar with, and missed), taking a deep breath then looked resolutely back at Richard. 

“Rich… I…”

But his words were cut short by an abrubt sound of screeching tires from somewhere outside, followed by a frantic honking of a car horn and then a loud thud. 

“What the…?” 

They both sprang to their feet to take a look outside the large kitchen window facing the main road, to try and locate the source of the noices.

“There, look!” Lee pointed at a pair of headlights some distance away. “Looks like they got themselves stuck in that mound of snow there. We should go check…” He turned to Richard, who was way ahead of him and was already making his way to the foyer. 

They picked up a shovel and a sack of salt from the barn, just in case, before making their way along the long driveway and towards the still stationary car not far along the main road. The snow was coming down even thicker than before so Richard wasn’t at all that the car’s driver had probably hit a rough ice patch the wrong way and lost control of the vehicle. 

Still, the silence was eerie and the only sound was of their footsteps as they truged over the crisp newly fallen snow, and the rumble of the car’s engine sounding ever louder as they approached. 

There were two people at the scene, that they could see. One bending down and checking the car for any damages, the other crouching on the road a few feet away. The person by the car stood up straight as they noticed them arrive and Richard recognized him as a neighbouring farmer living not far away.

“Hey” Lee greeted him loudly over the rumble of the engine. “Are you guys okay? Is anybody hurt?”

The man looked worried and Richard’s gaze wandered towards the person crouching inthe middle of the road… crouching over… what?

“Hey, Lee… I was just about to come and get you… I’m so sorry, it all happened so fast…” His voice trailed away as he gestured at the scene a few feet away. 

“Wait, what’re you…?” Then Lee finally noticed the other person at the scene, the farmer’s wife, who had now stood up to give Richard space, and he cought a glimpse og something lying unmoving in the road - a black, shaggy-haired something…

“Pete…” Lee moaned as he hurried over and kneeled beside his beloved, wounded dog. 

“Is he okay?!” He asked the woman hysterically.

“Well, he seemes to be alive, for now but....” Her voice trailed away uncertainly and she looked worriedly at Lee.

Richard noticed Pete’s eyes open slightly as he became aware of Lee’s presence, and he struggled to wag his tail. The dog’s devotion at such a critical moment was heartbreaking.

“Pete, buddy…” Lee’s voice broke as he rubbed the dog’s ears and let him smell the scent of his fingers. 

 

Richard then made a split-second desicion. It was probably futile, but he had to at least try - for Lee. He stood up, removed his jacket and draped it over the dog. 

Lee’s tear-streaked eyes looked up at him. “What…?”

“Try and wrap him up - keep him warm.” Richard ordered as calmly as he could. “I’m getting the car and we’ll tak him to Amy.”

Not waiting for a reaction from Lee, he strode back and, after giving the shovel and bag of salt to the couple who assured him that both they and the car were perfectly okay, if a little shaken, hurried back to the house to pick up his carkeyes, and a first-aid kit from the bathroom. He also called Amy, the local vet and a good friend of theirs to let her know what had happened and to ask if they could come over despite the unfortunate timing. She thankfully picked up at the first ring and told him to bring Pete straight over. 

 

Arriving back at the scene, he noticed that the man had managed to free the car from the mound of snow. The woman was waiting with Lee, who was holding Pete in his arms, tightly wrapped up in Richard’s black jacket. 

Richard pulled slowly up beside Lee who gently laid the dog in the back seat and then climbed in to sit beside him. As soon as the door closed behind them, Richard hit the gas. 

“How is he?” He asked, looking at Lee in the rearview mirror. 

Lee shook his head and their eyes met in the mirror. 

“I don’t… know. I - I think he’s getting weaker.”

Richard turned his eyes back on the road and stared resolutely through the windshield as he increased the speed as much as he dared, under the dangerous conditions. 

They spent the rest of the twenty minute drive in silence, except for Lee trying to soothe the weakening dog in the back seat. 

Meanwhile, Richard was trying his hardest not to think about what would happen if… he didn’t think he could bear it… it would absolutely destroy Lee…

 

The lights were already lit inside Amy’s small veterinary practice adjoined to her farmhouse when Richard pulled up, and she was already standing in the doorway waiting for them. She reached the car before Richard had even turned off the engine, ready to pick up  her patient and bring him inside. 

“I’ll bring him straight in, Lee.” She said without further ado to the glassy-eyed and frightened form of Lee who was standing on the other side of the car. “You guys just sit down in the waiting room; there’s nothing more you can do at the moment. If there’s anything you need, just go across and Henry will hit you up; he knows what’s happening.” 

With that, she carried the massive black form inside and vanished through the open door. 

Lee said nothing, but just stood still rooted to the spot, hugging himself tightly. Richard thought the shock must finally be getting to him, so he went over to him, put an arm over his shoulders and said calmly. 

“Lee? Come on, let’s go inside; I don’t want you freezing out here.”

Lee allowed himself to be steered into the warmth of the waiting room and into one of the chairs facing the door that led into the operating room. Richard was about to sit down beside him when he noticed him staring in quiet shock down at his hands which were covered in something that could only be blood. Richard’s heart skipped a few beats at the sight and his throat felt really tight again. He forced his english self to keep calm, however, and went over to a hand-washing station in the corner, pulled some paper out of the dispenser, ran it under the water and proceeded to wipe Lee’s hands clean. When he was sure he’d managed to get rid of every last red trace, he tossed the paper in the bin and sat down next to Lee, draping his arm over across his back in a sideways hug which Lee returned by resting his head on shoulder and proceeding to sob quietly from shock and exhaustion. 

 

Richard tried to keep his mind occupied by staring around and reading every single infographic on the walls. He became immensely knowledgeable in the dietary needs of hamsters - but it was better than letting his mind wander in the direction of the surgery, or worse yet, back to the unfinished conversaiton from earlier. 

Soon, he became aware of Lee’s breath steadying and glancing down at him, noticed that he had in fact managed to fall asleep. Not wanting to risk waking him, Richard tried to keep as still as he possibly could as he kept glancing up at the clock on the wall opposite them, trying to keep track of the time passing…

 

Becoming increasingly aware that someone was watching him, Richard jerked awake and looked around. It took him a minute to realize where he was and to get his wits about him, then it all came back to him. Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was just past eleven. He had been sleeping for about two hours! Heart thumping a the memory of why they were there in the first place, he turned to face Lee who had just been watching him intensely from his place beside him, and asked, “Anything?”

Lee shook his head. Calming down a little, Richard stritched his limbs awake, then leaned back in his chair, head to the wall and turned to face Lee again. 

“You sleep well?” It was lame, but it was all he could think of asking. 

Lee shrugged. “I guess. Now I’m just anxious again.” He glanced at the still ominously closed door. 

“Yeah,” Richard croaked, his voice not quite recovered from the nap. “I hate how long this is taking. I mean, this is Amy, so I know she’s doing everything she possibly can, but…”

“Rich…” Lee cut him off suddenly, still considering him intensely. Richard sat up a little straighter, eyebrows raised in silent inquiry. 

“I don’t want us to break up.” he continued very definitely. 

Richard froze. Not daring to move, in case he had somehow grossly misunderstood Lee’s words, he he stared at Lee, eyes wide and asked, “Are - are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Lee nodded. “I just… I’ve been thinking about what you said earlier and just… I don’t want to give up. On us. ‘Cause I still absolutely love you.”

Hearing these words made Richard feel like spring had arrived early. He was beaming with relief and before he could stop himself, he embraced Lee tightly and never wanted to let go of him again. 

“God, Lee, you have no idea how happy I am to hear you say this.” He croaked again but this time from overwhealming emotions. 

Succumbing into the embrace, Lee buried his face in Richard’s neck and said in a muffled voice, “I’m so sorry, Rich. I’m sorry about being such a mess this year.”

“Hey, don’t apologize.” Richard was stroking Lee’s back, comforting him. “This year’s been a nightmare for you and you did what you had to do to get through it on your own terms and I’m so proud of you for that.”

“I still shouldn’t have shut you out like that. I’m so sorry.”

But Richard just shussed him and kept running his hand up and down his back. He honestly didn’t care bout any of that anymore. All he cared about right now was that they were going to get through this together and he’s be damned if he let anything come between them ever again. 

 

Just then, the door to the operating room finally opened and Amy stepped out, disrupting their emotional moment. 

They sprung apart at the sudden interruption and both stood up at the same time but before Lee could ask the burning question, Amy removed her surgical mask reveiling a satisfied smile. 

“Pete is such a brave trooper and he’s going to be fine.”

Richard felt like he was breathing fresh air for the first time in years, and by the looks of it, Lee was expressing the same feeling. His whole tall body unclenched somehow and he straightened up to his full heighth, and now it was his turn to sccop Amy into a massive hug of gratefulness. 

“Omyghosh, Amy, thank you thank you thank you! You’re amazing!”

“All right… ookay,” Amy mumbled nonchalantly as she wiggled herself out of the embrace, though she obiously couldn’t help beaming as well. 

“Now, he’s obviously still in some pain, poor guy.” she explained. “His left front leg is broken and he has three pretty badly fractured ribs, so it’ll take him a while to recover. I want to keep him with me at least for the next three or four days, just so I can make sure everything’s healing as it should, but after that he should be fit enough to go back home and rest in his normal environment.”

As they listened attentively at the vet’s instructions, Lee ever so subtly grabbed Richard’s hand, making him blush with pure happiness. 

“Right, of course.” Lee nodded to indicate he had registered everything she said. “Amy, thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to us.”

“Oh, I think I can imagine.” Amy assured him. “So, you wanna go in and say hi?”

“Can we?” Lee lit up with excitement. 

“I don’t see why not. He’s still sleeping off the anesthetics, but your scent and the sound of your voice will likely help him in the healing process.”

Lee beamed at Richard, and together they steped into the operation room where they found Pete laying completely still, but thankfully still breathing, on a small doggy bed with a blanket draped ovet him.

Richard felt a small pang in his heart at the sight of the heavily bandaged front leg sticking from under the blanket and tried not to think about how his torso must look like, but Lee made his way straight over, crouching down to face him and softly stroke the top of his head. 

“Heyy, buddy,” he said quietly. “You’re such a good boy, yes you are.”

The dog did not move, but Richard clearly noticed his tail wagging weakly a few times.

 

After they’d said their goodbyes to Pete, and a promise from Lee that they would come over and visit tomorrow, they went back into the waiting room where Amy was still standing, wanting to give them some space. 

Richard had just taken out his checkbook to pay Amy for her services, when she waved it away, shaking her head and said, “Richard, honestly, there’s no need.”

“Oh, but…”

“Just consider it a holiday gift from your friendly neighbourhood veterinarian Santa.” She smiled at them and winked. 

 

She allowed Lee to hug her once more before she needed to check up on Pete again, and promised to ring them up the day after when they could come and visit him. 

 

Together, Ricard and Lee stepped out into the crisp December night again. It had finally stopped snowing and the sky above was clear and starry. As Richard pulled the door closed behind them, he glanced quickly at the clock which showed just after midnight. 

Giving Lee’s hand a soft squeeze, he smiled and said, “Hey. It’s Christmas Day.”

He pulled Lee into another hug (he had a feeling he would be doing that a lot over the next few days - or weeks) and siad softly, “Happy Christmas, love.”

“Happy Christmas, Rich.”

Letting go, Lee filled his lungs with the fresh winter air, then out of nowhere, started giggling like mad, cuasing Richard to stare confusedly.

Calming down a little to catch his breath, he Lee explained, “Oh, god, sorry… it’s just…. he’s gonna be so frustrated with his cone of shame!”

Realizing Lee was making fun of Pete, Richard started chuckling along, as the mental image shot through his head.

“It’s gonna be glorious,” Lee went on. “I’m gonna take so. Many. Pictures!”

It was a few moments before either of them could stop laughing. It wasn’t until Richard let out a loud shudder, that Lee cought on and exclaimed, “Richard! Your jacket - you must be freezing!”

“Nah… it’s nothing…” said Richard who was, in fact, freezing.

“Hey, come on, let’s go home.” Lee paused, then added, “You - you are coming home tonight, right?”

Still shivering, Richard nodded, then cupped Lee’s face with his ice-cold hands and kissed him a little more than softly. 

Lee allowed him to go on for exactly twenty seconds, before pulling away. 

“Christ, Rich, you’re so fucking cold!” He clicked the carkeys and pulled open the door on the driver’s side, as Richard sat down in the passenger seat.

Flashing a cat-like grin, he added, “Don’t worry, though, I know of something we can do at home that’ll warm you right up!” 

**Author's Note:**

> So, I started writing this fic while under the influence of a seasonal depression, which happened to hit me at the same time as certain end-of-relationship rumors about some actors I care a lot about. So all in all, a super fun writing process!  
> Then I decided on the ending when I figured I didn't care about any of the rumors, and that as far as I'm concerned, they're absolutely still together, and nothing can convince me otherwise *clutches tinfoil hat*.   
> Obviously this is pure fiction, and I know absolutely nothing about any loss of family members or pets - or any personal life whatsoever. 
> 
> Anyway, sorry about all the mess and ellipses. This is completely unedited. 
> 
> Happy Holidays/Christmas/Hanukkah/etc.!


End file.
